


Election Shakeup

by zarrati



Series: 4th Knope-Wyatt Universe [1]
Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Season 7 AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-11 08:50:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5620831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarrati/pseuds/zarrati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The 4th Knope-Wyatt arrives on election night</p>
            </blockquote>





	Election Shakeup

They’re at his campaign headquarters in Pawnee when she squeezes his hand. A death grip that can only mean one thing coming from his heavily pregnant wife-–it’s time.

She’s clutching the side of her belly, breathing in and out in rapid bursts. He ignores the dozens upon dozens of volunteers and supporters crowding the room waiting for election results, and turns his head towards Leslie.

“Babe, is it…”

She bites her lip and nods. “I’m really sorry. I tried to wait it out-”

“Wait a minute,” he jumps in. “You mean that you’ve been in labor?”

“I thought maybe it was Braxton Hicks or it would take forever to get serious but-” Another contraction hits and she grits her teeth.

“How long have you been in actual labor?” he asks, already losing the calm he was trying so desperately to hold on to.

“I don’t know. Five or six hours maybe.”

“Five or six hours!” he shouts and several heads turn to look at him. He turns away and lowers his voice. “I can’t believe you were in labor for that long and didn’t say anything.”

“It’s your big night. I didn’t want to ruin it if I didn’t have to.”

He runs a hand down the side of her stomach. “Hey, you would not have ruined anything. Not one bit. This is a million times more important. But, I mean, your water hasn’t broken yet, so that’s a good sign, right?”

She looks away, guilty.

“Good Lord. Your water already broke?”

“About an hour ago.”

He runs two shaky hands through his once perfectly styled hair. “Jesus Christ. We have to get you out of here and to a hospital.”

Another contraction hits and her knees buckle. “No,” she gasps out. “No, it’s okay. I’ve still got some time. I was in labor like this for almost twice as long with the triplets. I’ll be fine.”

“No way. We’re leaving right now. You’ve already given birth to three babies, and this one will probably come a lot faster. Dr. Saperstein said it’s like a slip and slide down there.”

“Okay, I’ll get April or Andy to take me to the hospital.”

“Like hell.” He holds onto Leslie’s hand and starts navigating towards the door.

“You can’t leave now,” she argues. “The polls are closing soon. You have to stay here.”

He quickly starts gathering his things and shoves them into a briefcase. “I don’t care. I’ll tell Jen and she can handle everything. I am not missing out on a single second of our baby’s birth because of an election. Now, your bag is already in the car and we can call your mom on the way and she can keep the kids.” He lifts his hand high and waves Jen over.

“What’s wrong with you?” Jen asks, barely looking up from her phone. “You look like a tiny, terrified chihuahua about to piss itself. Relax, you’ve got this election in the bag.”

“No, it’s not that. Leslie’s in labor and I’m taking her to the hospital. I need you to cover for me.”

“Jen,” Leslie cuts in, “please tell him that he’s overreacting and he needs to stay behind.”

Jen’s shocked expression soon morphs into a huge smile. “Are you kidding me? This is great!”

“Oh, well thank you,” Ben says, surprised. “We’re definitely excited about another baby-”

“What? No,” she waves him off dismissively. “I mean yeah congratulations or whatever on another gross, screaming human, but this is going to be great for your image. There’s nothing that these mid-west hicks care about more than “family”. Leaving your own rally to be there for the birth of your third kid-”

“Fourth-”

“Irrelevant. Once I make a statement about it, people will be flocking to the polls to vote for you. This is really perfect timing.” Another contraction hits and Leslie gasps while Jen looks her up and down and grimaces. “She really doesn’t look so good. You should probably get her to the hospital before the press sees her. They like pregnant and glowing, not pregnant and clammy.”

Ben frowns at Jen’s receding back before shaking his head and taking Leslie’s hand. “Alright, sweetheart. Let’s go have this baby.”

* * *

 

“I swear to God, Ben, if you ever try to sleep with me again, I will cut your penis off with a pair of gardening shears.”

Ben stands silent, his eyes wide as saucers as his wife’s grip cuts off the circulation to his fingertips.

“No, I’m sorry,” she apologizes, out of breath once her contraction passes. “I don’t want to cut your penis off. I like your penis. I’m just in so much pain. Oh, God, why did we agree to have another kid?”

“Uhm, Dr. Saperstein,” Ben says quietly. “Is there any reason why Leslie is, uh, in so much more pain now than her last delivery.”

The doctor looks up from between Leslie’s legs and pulls down the mask. “Oh, well, last time you arrived at the hospital within plenty of time for the drugs to kick in. Unfortunately, you came a little late this go ‘round. The epidural won’t take effect for a little while still. Right now, she is in _intolerable_ pain and discomfort.”

“Oh, God, why?” Leslie groans.

Ben bends over to bring his mouth to his wife’s ear. “It’ll be alright, babe. You’re doing so great. I know it hurts, but you just need to be brave.”

“Don’t you dare tell me to be brave,” she grunts. “I’m pushing out a human being the size of a watermelon from my vagina without any kind of drugs. You had to be doped up higher than a kite for a few microscopic kidney stones.”

“Yes, that’s fair,” he stammers.

“Don’t you dare fucking touch that television,” Leslie says out of nowhere to frightened young nurse at the corner of the room. “My husband is about to be elected into the House of Representatives, and if you change that channel and make me miss the poll updates, I will personally hunt you down and strangle you with my umbilical cord.”

“Sorry,” Ben calls after the woman now scampering away. “She’s just really been looking forward to watching the election results.”

“Alright, you two,” Dr. Saperstein says. “This baby’s on its way. I want you to start pushing on your next contraction.”

“I can’t,” she pants. “I can’t do it. It hurts too much.”

“Of course you can,” Ben encourages. “You can do this. I’m so proud of you. Just a few more pushes and we finally get to meet our new baby girl.”

Several painful contractions and tortured screams later, a new cry fills the room

Dr. Saperstein holds the baby up for the proud parents to see. “This one’s got a set of lungs on her, I’ll tell you what. Dad, come on over and cut the cord.”

Leslie gives him a reassuring nod as he walks over to his newborn daughter, his heart already bursting with the kind of love he never knew existed until he became a father.

He holds his hand steady and cuts.

“Good job. We’ll just take her over to get cleaned up and bring her right back.”

“Stay with her,” Leslie urges softly, her tired body sinking into the hospital bed.

When his daughter is placed into his arms, he forgets about everything else. He doesn’t hear the newscaster announce Ben Wyatt as the new representative for Indiana’s 9th congressional district.

When he passes the baby to Leslie for the first time, he doesn’t see Jen give a victory speech on his behalf or notice the way she works the crowd by reaffirming Ben’s commitment to family.

In that moment, as his daughter suckles for the first time on Leslie’s breast, it’s all so irrelevant. He can talk to the press tomorrow, can bask in glory of his win at any other time.

Some things are just so much more important than politics.  

**Author's Note:**

> Finally posting my 4th Knope-Wyatt Universe fics on AO3. If you want to prompt anything within this universe, hit me up on tumblr @benwyattforcongress


End file.
